Evanesce
by Mareessa
Summary: The Wayne Family gathers in order to prepare for there youngest's wedding. Nothing goes according to plan.
1. Part One

Part One

"You think marrying the demon brat off to the daughter of a literal **demon** is a good idea? My God you're even more delusional then I thought Bruce."

Bruce gritted his teeth together at the 'demon brat' comment, not liking anyone even his ex wife to insult his son, and slowly closed his eyes. He didn't have time to be getting worked up over a simple comment.

"I would prefer if you didn't insult my son Selina. Besides he and Rachel have become great friends over the past eight months." He groaned rubbing at his forehead.

The brunette rolled her eyes and have him a tight lipped smile. "Friends not future husband and wife, though I am supposed the poor girl managed to stand your son's terrible manners and don't even get me started on his attitude. I guess being raised with two older brothers did her some good for once." She snickered afterwards taking a sip from her champagne glass.

"Selina..." He resisted the urge to growl, neglecting his own glass of alcohol for the papers that littered his desk.

His former lover shrugged and leaned back in her chair with a pleased look on her face. Her couldn't help but look over her body and the way her form seemed to melt into her clothing. The skin tight black mini dress made his heart become heavy and his mouth felt like cotton. Crossing her heels over one another she raised a eyebrow at him.

"Like what you see?" They both knew the answer. It was the same every time she'd ask him. But that was in the past and they where stuck, frozen in the present.

"Rachel will be staying in the manor for the next three weeks and I want all of the kids here to make her feel more at home." He said watching her face fall. "And by all the kids I mean Helena and Terry to."

She started to shake her head with frustration growing on her face and her nails sharpening against the seats leather arms. The room became tense and her eyes darkened.

"Bruce i can't let the kids come here when you have so many enemies watching this place. Just the thought of leaving them alone here makes me sick to my stomach." She spat out.

"The children will all be watched by armed guards and my closest allies." He said watching her begin to burn a bright red in her anger. "Nothing will happen to them while they are under my watch."

"And how can I know that you're telling the truth? Bruce I want to trust you but I don't want some random men watching over my kids!"

"It won't be random men here. Dick is coming over to and he's bringing Mari over to keep Helena company and I'm sure she and Carrie will get along great." He said wanting the conversation to end already. He hated when they argued especially over the children.

"Come on, I swear that Dick and I will watch them at all times." Bruce promised his voice soft.

Selina sat there for a few more minutes before finally cracking under the pressure. "Fine. But if my kids get hurt because of you we're done."

The dark haired teen grinned as his foot met his older brother's side, knocking the man onto his behind. Cracking his knuckles he prepared to deal the finishing blow only to be swept off of his feet with a swift to the back of his legs. He andes next to his brother and looked up at his attacker with a fierce scowl.

Stephanie grinned at him and stretched her arms behind her back, rolling her eyes at the angry pout on his face. She held back the urge to laugh at both of her brothers.

"Brown how dare you interrupt my training." Damian hissed as he got off of the ground and dusted himself off.

"If that's what you want to call training." Stephanie muttered sitting down on a chair.

His eyes grew heated. "Well it's not like I can do anything with a broken arm."

"And whose fault is that?" Dick said having heard all the commotion from outside the room.

Damian's eyes widened in shock, having not even known his older brother was coming over. "Grayson?"

To his side Tim looked up his eyebrows arched in confusion. "Dick when did you get here?"

Coming over with two bags in his hands, one noticeably a small child's, he couldn't help but hug the closest person near him who happened to be Stephanie. She attempted to escape but he was to fast jumping at her and slamming her to his chest. Wheezing she fought against the man's affection her face turning blue and her body wiggling.

"Dick...can't...breath...stop...hugging me...dumbass." She whimpered kicking him in the crotch with the heel of her boot.

They collapsed to to the ground with Dick sweating and holding himself in pain while Stephanie panted in relief. She glared at the other two in the room who looked as if they where struggling to keep from laughing.

"Why didn't you help me you idiots!" She growled ignoring the teary eyed man beneath her.

Damian shrugged while Tim just stared at her with a blank face. "I wanted karma to finish it's course. Serves you right."

The younger of the two nodded. "I have to agree with Drake here despite the dread it fills me with to even utter the words." He shuddered. "Now get off the floor and apologize to Grayson for mauling his genitals."

Gaping the blonde curled her hands into fists and uncurled them as if she was struggling not to pummel them to death.

"As if you wouldn't do the same you midgets." But she still got up and pulled up her brother without any trouble.

Despite being kicked in the jewels and bruises from the waist up, Dick smiled with bright eyes at his siblings. His bags sat sprawled on the ground by his feet and his left cheek was turning a bright red from being scratched by the room's floorboards.

"I missed you all so much! It was so hard living all alone in California without my little siblings and my babies!" He sobbed squeezing Tim against his side causing the man to cry out in shock. "Jason wouldn't even let me visit you guys!"

"I wonder why..." Stephanie muttered watching them with caution.

Dick pouted but continued to hug his brother. "Anyway, Mari and I will be staying here with you guys for the next two months and my idiotic brother is coming along to."

"Don't you mean your idiotic husband?" Damian sighed.

"Well he can be both." Dick huffed childishly before blanking and screwing up his face. "Okay that does sound wrong now that I think about."

Stephanie scowled. "You think, I never thought this family was into incest but then again Tim and I dated when we where considered siblings." The man in question stared at her in annoyance.

"That isn't the same thing we weren't raised together!" He shouted the sound of his ribs practically cracking echoing around them.

Chuckling she rolled her eyes. "Sure it isn't."


	2. Part Two

Part Two

"So when do you think Cass is coming?" Stephanie plopped down onto the couch, having changed from her training gear to a simple pair of jeans and tee shirt.

To her right Tim shrugged, not really paying to what she was saying but instead to his laptop as he tapped away at it. He didn't want to think about the whole family gathering anyway as the whole thing rubbed him the wrong way. All the Wayne children together left a bad taste in his mouth.

Stephanie glared at him and continued on with her rambling. "I mean she's been really busy with her internship for the past six months and I don't want taking off time for the wedding to ruin it for her."

Like any child of the bat would, Cassandra had sprung from the best and had gone off to college to study the arts of psychology. The blonde found it ironic a girl who loves in one of the world's most dysfunctional family's had gone into such a practice but alas it was her sweet sister's and she would support her along the entire way. Bruce had called her the day before about the wedding and she had confirmed her invitation.

"I mean who would want to come back to this family when they finally got out of it? Look at us now sitting on our deadbeat dad's antique couch awaiting his arrival and inevitable punishment from his cruel fists." She rubbed her hands against her face. "We're practically covered in bruises and cuts, if we where in school still they'd think he was abusing us."

Tim looked over at her with large bags under his bloodshot eyes. "They still think he's abusing us. Remember when we attended that gala together last month? Everyone thought Bruce had been forced feeding me the entire time when really I had good poisoning."

"You did throw up a lot...but that's besides the point. The point is that we can't have Cassandra's life rounded by own of Bruce's investments." She said angrily changing the channel on the tv.

"Don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit. Her internship won't end because of one wedding. Gotham Asylum is desperate for staff and besides she's the adopted daughter of Bruce Wayne the richest man in the city. He practically runs this hell hole of city." Tim muttered his laptop screen glowing against his pale skin.

Stephanie sighed looking down from the tv. "Maybe you're right one month can't be that bad."

The Wayne Manor was one of oldest and largest buildings in Gotham, having been built back when the family had first gained it's riches. In it's glory days the manor had a garden that was large enough to contain a whole other house entirely and a orchard not to far away. Canopies of trees and decorative hedges now sat amidst the decay of dead flowers and over watered soil.

To Rachel it showed how much the family had changed from when she had first come to meet them. She had to have been only a toddler due to her mother still being alive and her father out of the picture. It was in the middle of that year's summer break and she had been exploring the garden when she came across the hidden flourish that surrounded it.

Now, it looked empty and unhealthy, with everything in it either dead or overgrown. It disgusts her and made her want to hurt the so called gardeners for even making it stay in such a state.

"I don't want to marry you either Dami but it's not like we have much of a choice." She said looking away from the window to the pacing preteen.

He had been since she had arrived which was two hours before.

"Don't you think I know that! Father has so much on the line with our-" He shuttered at the word and she resisted the way her stomach turned. "-marriage. But I still can't accept the fact that this is actually going to happen. I should be prepared for this, I was trained for this."

Rachel frowned. "Just because your mother taught you that your supposed to be my husband doesn't mean that's all you are. It's normal to be scared over this whole thing."

She wasn't prepared for the response he would give her only seconds later. His face morphed from panic to bright red with anger and he bared his teeth as if he was struggling not to yell at her. Damian's entire body shook as he tried not to move. She had never seen him lose control like this.

"I am not scared," He said but his voice came out surprisingly weak and non threatening causing her body to become less tense. "I am not...I am not okay with this. This isn't my father's life nor is it my mother's but they all seem to act like it is."

His body slumped forward as Rachel have him a look of pity. She never knew that he had felt this way about his family or there wedding. A odd feeling grew in her chest that felt like her heart had been crushed. Swallowing the lump in her throat a she uncrossed her legs and walked up to him.

"You're right. This is your life but we have no other choice it's either marry me or be sent off to one of those crazy schools down south." Rachel said putting her hands on his shoulder.

"Rae..." He started but she shushed him with the look on her face.

"Damian we're not done talking about this yet." She said narrowing her eyes.


	3. Part Three

Part Three

 _Richard sat down at the kitchen table with his head in hands. He was shaking hard enough to move the table with him but he didn't even care as the fear and disappointment filled him. Tears refused to fall from his eyes as his mind wouldn't even allow it, the pain of the entire situation destroying him._

 _He couldn't breath. He couldn't think. All he could do was stare at his hands and try not to cry over what he had been forced to witness. Something that made him feel nothing but sheer horror and disgust at his younger self. The entire time he thought he had thought he had been the one playing the younger man when he had been playing him._

 _And now he sat pregnant and alone. His boyfriend wouldn't even talk to him, his father despises him and his siblings hated his guts. Richard shuttered and bit down on his already tender lip. He couldn't do it alone again. He couldn't go there that pai-_

"Daddy? Daddy wake up!"

Dick's eyes flew open and he shot up from his side of the bed, panting against the thin sheet that covered majority of his body. Sweat dripped down his neck and his cheeks felt flushed.

A small hand tugged at the bottom of his shirt causing him to groan and look down. He was met with the familiar light blue eyes of his daughter.

"Daddy pancakes." Mari muttered poking her lip out at him. " Mari wants pancakes now please. "

Dick sighed the shock of the nightmare heavy in his mind. "Can you go out and wait for daddy to get up first sweetie? I'm still a little tired."

She narrowed her eyes at him and pulled at his shirt harder. "That's what you said last time. Mari doesn't want aunt Katie's yucky smoothie."

He frowned for a moment before a realization hit him and he resisted the urge to smother himself with a pillow. He had forgotten that the older woman was staying with them the next few weeks and knew for a fact she probably had been feeding his daughter her protein shakes whenever he slept in.

He caved leaning over to hug her feeling guilty over his recent behavior. "Please forgive daddy Mari, he's been feeling very icky these past few days."

She frowned and put her hands against his chest. "Icky? Like Papa's been feeling."

At the mention of his husband he felt his eyes begin to burn and he wrapped his arms tighter around her to give her a squeeze. "Yeah sweetie just like Papa."

"Daddy!" Mari whined as he picked her up making his way out of the small bedroom into the apartment's main hallway that led to the kitchen. "Hugging to hard."

"Sorry baby." He sighed.

When they made it into the kitchen they where surprisingly met with the woman in question Kate standing over the oven with a spatula in her hand and her phone in the other. The Ear bud cord hung over her chest and he could hear the faint sound of jazz coming from them.

Moving Mari onto his hip(causing her to whine a little and pout again) he tapped the older woman's shoulder roughly. This startled her nearly making her drop the spatula on the ground of it wasn't for catching it just in time.

Kate gritted her teeth at him and looked as if she wanted to punch him. She jammed a ear bud into her sweatshirt's pocket.

"Dick what the hell!" She hissed before she noticed the little girl in the room. "I mean what the heck."

He continued to give her the evil eye. "Why haven't you been feeding Mari actual food?"

"Wait what?" She said frowning.

"You heard me Kate, why in the hell did you think it was a good idea to give a toddler only a nature valley bar for breakfast?" He said as the woman narrowed her eyes with her temper beginning to flare.

"I did the same thing for you when Bruce took you in and you seem perfectly fine to me." She shrugged reaching over the pan and turning off the stove.

"Mari and I are not the same person Kate just don't do it anymore and give her a PB and J sandwich or something." He knew if they continued on like this he'd be the one walking out of the house.

Kate looked at him for a moment before turning away from them. "Fine whatever let's have breakfast."


End file.
